As the National Eucharistic Revival comes to an end in the United States this year, many believe there is a need for a global Eucharistic revival in other parts of the world — including the Philippines. Empty adoration chapels in the majority-Catholic country and lack of belief in the Real Presence are leading more parishes to implement a simple initiative called the “Holy Hour Pledge” and call for more catechesis.
Filipino-American priest Father James Cervantes of the Marians of the Immaculate Conce-ption (MIC) lamented the phenomenon throughout different parishes across the Philippines, despite its renown as the largest Catholic nation in Asia and the third largest in the world.
“I came here to Manila just a year and a half ago. I noticed there are a lot of adoration chapels where Jesus is exposed, but they’re empty and abandoned. I was puzzled. I thought, ‘OK, maybe this is just one.’ But then I visited another church and another, across different cities – and again, Jesus was exposed, but they were all empty. In the U.S. and in Poland, this wouldn’t even be allowed. All I could think was, ‘Oh Lord, no one is in here, I’m so sorry Lord.’” Cervantes recounted a tragic situation in one of the Manila parishes whereby the monstrance – with the consecrated host – was stolen by thieves inside an empty adoration chapel.
Spanish bishops speak out after leaks of their meeting with Leo XIV
The executive committee of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, (CEE, by its Spanish acronym) meeting in Madrid this week, issued an official statement regarding the leaks
